Ballistic missile



Jan. 18, 1966 w. A. MRAZEK 3,229,637

BALLIS'I'IC MISSILE Original Filed Feb. 12, 1959 FIG.5

William A. Mrazek, INVENTOR.

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United States Patent 3,229,637 BALLISTIC MISSILE William A. Mrazek, Huntsville, Ala., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army Continuation of application Ser. No. 792,925, Feb. 12, 1959. This application Mar. 20, 1964, Ser. No. 353,636 1 Claim. (Cl. 102-49) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This application is a continuation of application Serial Number 792,925, filed February 12, 1959, now abandoned.

My invention relates to ballistic missiles and more particularly to such missiles respectively provided with heads and boosters secured together and disposed for separation during flight.

Conventional missiles are ballistically unstable monoliths provided with pay loads and sources provided with plants including fuel inclosures to power the missiles in flight-s to targets according to predetermined trajectories. The intermediate portions of the trajectories are usually outside of the atmosphere of the earth and the missiles reenter the atmosphere in the terminal portion of the flights to the targets. The missiles are required to withstand an 8g lateral acceleration during the terminal portions of the flights.

. The empty fuel inclosures of conventional missiles were found to be damaged upon re-entry int-o the atmosphere to cause the terminal portions of the actual flights to vary widely from those of the predetermined trajectories. Also it was found that least damage upon re-entry to the atmosphere was suffered by aerodynamically stable bodies without fuel inclosures and that head and tail units secured together to form missiles could be separated in the intermediate portions of the flights.

An aerodynamically stable body is defined as one in which the center of pressure of the body during flight is disposed rearwardly of the center of gravity of the body.

It is an object of my invention therefore to provide missiles with head and booster unit-s secured together and disposed for separation during flights.

Another object of my invention is to provide such heads with aerodynamic stability for accurate operation of the heads in the terminal portions of the flights.

A further object of my invention is to provide such missiles in which the heads and boosters are separable prior to the terminal portions of the flights.

Other aims and objects of my invention will appear from the following description.

In carrying out my invention, missiles are respectively provided with ballistically stable heads to enclose pay loads and boosters secured thereto to include power plants for propulsion of the missiles in the flights. The boosters and the heads are disposed for separation at predetermined intervals after the fuel in the boosters is exhausted and before the terminal portions of the flights for substantial coincidence thereof with the terminal portions of the predetermined trajectories.

A missile with separable head and booster is lighter and traverses a greater range than a monolithic missile of equal weight since the head only is required to withstand the stresses of re-entry into the atmosphere.

For a more complete understanding of my invention reference is directed to the following description and the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of a missile including a ballistically stable head and a booster;

3,229,637 Patented Jan. 18, 1966 FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of the missile showing the relationship of the center of gravity and center of pres sure when the head is separated from the booster;

FIGURE 3 is a diminished view of a ballistic missile system with the missile in the launching site at the beginning of a flight path;

FIGURE 4 is an end view of the missile in the launching site shown in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a similar view of the head and booster after separation.

According to the drawing, a missile 12 is provided with a body 13, having stabilizing fins 40, and including a head 14 having centers of gravity and pressure 15 and 17 in serial relation according to well known standards for aerodynamic stability and head 14 is disposed to transport a payload (not shown). As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, head 14 is provided with an ogival tip extending rearwardly to intersect with a cylindrical rear portion 11. A structure of this type is defined in aerodynamic parlance as an ogive secant structure. Portion 11 is of equal diameter throughout its length to provide a surface continuously disposed for unobstructed flow of air thereover thus effecting a zero-lift drop. Body 13 includes a booster 16 secured to head 14 for propulsion thereof in a flight 18 to a target 20. Flight 18 is scheduled according to a trajectory 22 shown in elevation in FIGURE 2 with missile 12 disposed in a launching site 24 at the beginning of the trajectory. Initial and terminal portions 26 and 28 of trajectory 22 are within the atmosphere of the earth While intermediate portion 30 of the trajectory is outside of the atmosphere.

Booster 16 is provided with the quantity of fuel to power missile 12 in a portion 30 of flight 18 ending at point 32. The power is cut off at point 32 and inertia propel-s the head in a ballistic trajectory in the remainder of flight 18. As shown in FIGURE 2, head 14 is constructed so that the center of pressure 17 is disposed rearward of the center of gravity 15 in predetermined spaced relation to limit the restoring torques on head 14 and thus assure aerodynamic stability of the head in terminal portion 28 of the trajectory.

Separation point 34 is disposed in an intermediate portion 38 of flight 18 and occurs at a predetermined time interval after cut off point 32. Booster 16 is discarded upon the separation and it is evident that it may be of lighter construction since it is required only to withstand the stresses encountered in powering head 14 in flight 18.

Since decrease in total weight of the missile results in a decrease in the fuel required to power a given pay load to a target, it is evident that the range of a two part missile with a given pay load is greater than that of a monolithic missile for transporting the same pay load.

While the foregoing is a description of the preferred embodiment, the following claim is intended to include those modifications and variations that are within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

An aerodynamically stable ballistic missile disposed for flight according to a predetermined trajectory with an intermediate portion of the trajectory outside the atmosphere of the earth, and a terminal portion within the atmosphere of the earth ending on a target; said missile comprising a booster; a head carried by said booster in axial alignment therewith; said booster provided with the entire fuel supply of said missile and disposed to provide the sole power provided in said flight to project said missile in the flight to a predetermined point in the trajectory, and said head disposed for independent ballistic flight subsequent to arrival of said missile at the predetermined point in the trajectory; said head having its center of gravity disposed forwardly of its center of aerodynamic pres- Sure to produce the restoring torque of the head in the 2,779,283 1/1957 Baughman 10249 terminal portion of the trajectory. 2.8351199 8 Stanley 102- 50 2,899,899 8/1959 Hirs ch 10249 References Cited by the Examiner .UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,459,198 6/1932 Dunajefi 1025O 2,45 8,475 1 1949 Lauritsen et a1 1 02-49 2,654,320 10/1953 Schmid 102-49 5 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL FEINBERG, Examiner.

V. R. PENDEGRASS, Assistant Examiner. 

